The two leading U.S. telecom stocks, AT (NYSE: T) and (NYSE: VZ), came under significant pressure on Thursday. The source of this was a media article about the market entry of a potentially powerful new rival. This put enough fear in investors to drive AT's share price down 5% on the day, while Verizon's suffered a nearly 3% decline.

That morning, The Wall Street Journal published an article stating that Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) is in discussions to sell plans for its wireless telecom service to customers through Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Citing "people familiar with the matter," the business newspaper wrote that the details of such plans might be announced as soon as next month.

Known chiefly as a satellite TV broadcaster, Dish has been acquiring mobile assets for years. The company spent roughly $30 billion on mobile spectrum licenses alone, according to the Journal's reporting, and has been building out its network of cell towers in the U.S. for several years.

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Source Fool.com